JP2007301780A - Inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet recording apparatus in which an ink feeding path to a second ink tank is reduced by an inexpensive method to attempt to reduce a carriage. <P>SOLUTION: In the inkjet recording apparatus wherein an ink cartridge 101 for supplementing ink and the second ink tank 104 are connected with each other with a connecting material 102, and there exists an ink delivering head in the downstream of the second ink tank 104, the inkjet recording apparatus has a feeding intermediate member 105 bent at the connecting part between the connecting material 102 and the second ink tank 104, and the feeding intermediate member 105 is formed on a part of a case of the second ink tank. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having a tank portion for storing ink in an upstream portion of the recording head via an ink tube in the middle of an ink flow path from an ink cartridge to the recording head.

In general, an ink jet recording apparatus is known as an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a printing material using ink. The ink jet recording apparatus includes a carriage configured to mount a sub ink tank and a print head so as to be reciprocally movable in a main scanning direction on a printing material, that is, to start and return from a predetermined home position, and the sub ink. A fixed main ink tank for supplying ink to the tank via the supply means, and the carriage has a tube as a supply means and a means for supporting the tube by forming a predetermined bending radius in the tube. In addition, a flexible substrate for energizing the print head is provided.
There is also known an ink jet recording apparatus in which a tube holder fixed to a tube is provided while the tube is being routed, the tube holder is moved in the same direction as the carriage, and is rotatable in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction. (See Patent Document 1). Therefore, according to this configuration, since the tube holder rotates, it is possible to avoid an excessive force from acting on the tube, and it is possible to eliminate a large space that depends on the bending radius of the tube, thereby reducing the size of the apparatus. It is supposed to be possible.

In addition, the link holding member that supports the tube is supported by a flexible elastic member and a multi-node link holding member made of a non-flexible non-elastic member. There is known an ink jet recording apparatus in which a holding member is integrally formed (see Patent Document 2). Therefore, in the past, the carriage was pushed up in a part of the moving region by the bending reaction force of the tube, but according to this configuration, the bending reaction force can be absorbed by the elastic member. It is said that the carriage can be prevented from being pushed up and the printed image can be prevented from being displaced or disturbed.
Further, an ink fluctuation suppression device that absorbs the ink fluctuation amount in the tube that is generated when the carriage moves is provided on the carriage. The ink fluctuation suppression device is formed into a bag-like body, and the force in the direction of crushing the bag-like body is provided. There is known an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a device to which the above is added (see Patent Document 3). According to this configuration, after the carriage stops and the tube internal pressure returns to a normal value, the bag-like body can be deflated, so that unnecessary ink flow into the bag-like body is suppressed. In addition, the ink fluctuation suppression device can prevent the tube internal pressure from fluctuating.

However, in the conventional configuration described above, when the carriage is moved to the home position in the main scanning direction, the carriage is displaced from the position of the home position by receiving a reaction force from the bent tube along with the movement, and various inconveniences are caused. There was a problem that occurred. That is, when the carriage is at the home position that occupies the position of the left end or right end in the tube radial direction, that is, when the carriage is at the home position where the carriage occupies the position at one end of the deeply curved tube, Due to the reaction force of bending, the carriage receives a force that moves in the main scanning direction away from the home position. In particular, after the carriage has moved to the home position, energization to the carriage drive motor, which is the drive source that moved the carriage, is stopped, so that the restraining force that restricts the movement of the carriage is lost. As a result, the carriage may move.
Therefore, in Patent Document 4, the present invention relates to a head that prints ink on a printing material, a carriage that carries this head and reciprocates on the printing material in the main scanning direction, an ink tank that stores ink, An ink jet recording apparatus having a tube for transporting ink from the ink tank to the head has a holding member for supporting the tube with a predetermined bending radius, and the holding member is in the main scanning direction of the carriage. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs a holding operation so as not to bulge the tube outward in conjunction with the operation is disclosed. As a result, even when there is a carriage at the end portion in the main scanning direction, the carriage is not subjected to a force in the main scanning direction, and the necessary space can be reduced by minimizing the expansion of the tube outside. A forming device could be provided.
However, this method is still not sufficient for miniaturization, and a method capable of further miniaturization has been demanded.

  Patent Document 5 discloses a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets from a nozzle, a sub-tank that stores liquid supplied from a liquid storage tank and supplies the liquid to the droplet discharge head, and the sub-tank is hermetically sealed. An opening means for switching to a state or an open state, and the sub-tank has a flexible member and an elastic member for generating negative pressure, and when recovering the state of the nozzle, When the amount of gas in the sub tank is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount, the opening means opens the sub tank, and when the amount of gas in the sub tank is less than a predetermined amount, the sub tank is not opened. A liquid ejection apparatus is disclosed. Thereby, although the structure of the switching part to the supply port of the sub tank is simplified, there is a problem that the joint of the tube has four parts and the number of parts is large.

JP-A-10-217494 JP 2000-127423 A JP 2001-63082 A JP 2006-15706 A JP 2005-59491 A

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that reduces the carriage by reducing the ink supply path to the second ink tank by an inexpensive method. It is to be.

The features of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, are listed below.
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink cartridge for ink replenishment and a second ink tank are connected by a connecting material, and an ink discharge head is provided downstream of the second ink tank. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a supply intermediate member bent at a connecting portion with an ink tank, wherein the supply intermediate member is formed by a part of a case of a second ink tank. Here, the connecting material is a tube or the like.
The present invention is characterized in that the supply port of the second ink tank has a groove shape, and the member that closes the groove closes the side opening of the second ink tank.
The present invention is characterized in that the member closing the side opening of the second ink tank is a film material. Here, the film material is a thin sheet material.
The present invention is characterized in that the material of the case of the second ink tank and the surface layer of the member closing the side opening of the second tank are the same material.
The present invention is characterized in that the homogeneous material is polyethylene.
The present invention is characterized in that a porous member is provided in the ink storage part of the second ink tank.
The present invention is characterized by being a piezo type head system.
The present invention is characterized in that it is a thermal head system.

  According to the present invention, it has become possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus which reduces the carriage by reducing the ink supply path to the second ink tank by an inexpensive method.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that it is easy for a person skilled in the art to make other embodiments by changing or correcting the present invention within the scope of the claims, and these changes and modifications are included in the scope of the claims. The following description is an example of the best mode of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the claims.

  Ink jet recording apparatuses are capable of high-speed and high-quality printing and are widely used. However, in the case of office use, ink is consumed in a general ink cart recording apparatus, so that ink must be frequently replaced. Therefore, there is provided a recording apparatus that can save time and labor for ink replacement by employing a large capacity ink cartridge. As a general structure of an ink jet recording apparatus, a moving body (carriage) on which an ink discharge head is mounted is reciprocated to form an image.

  FIG. 1 shows an ink jet recording apparatus employing a conventional second ink tank system. The ink cartridge 101 is disposed on the front surface and connected from the ink cartridge 101 to the second ink tank 104 by a connecting member 102 such as a tube. Ink is supplied to the second ink tank 104 by the ink supply pump 103. As described above, the connecting member 102 is arranged in parallel to the carriage 110. The problem was to reduce the distance from the bent portion of the connecting material 102 to the supply port 114 of the second ink tank. In the illustrated example, the supply port 114 of the second ink tank is arranged on the upper part of the second ink tank 104, and the distance is reduced by the supply port being located inside. L1 + L2−L3 is a distance from the bent portion of the connecting material 102 to the supply port 114 of the second ink tank.

When the large-capacity ink cartridge 101 is mounted on the carriage 110, the mass and size of the carriage 110 are increased.
Specifically, when the mass of the ink cartridge 101 increases, the acceleration area until the carriage 110 reaches the constant speed area for high-speed printing becomes longer, and the apparatus itself is increased. Moreover, since the load is large even in the constant speed range, a device for improving the speed stability is required.
Further, when the size of the ink cartridge 101 is enlarged, if the apparatus itself is enlarged as it is, the influence of the shake of the carriage 110 tends to occur, which is a disadvantageous condition for high image quality.
Therefore, the second ink tank 104 connected to the ink cartridge 101 is mounted on the carriage 110 to reduce the mass and size so as to perform recording.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a conventional second ink tank. A supply intermediate member 105 that changes the supply direction is provided at the supply port 114 of the second ink tank, and a sealing material 106 is attached between the supply port 114 and the supply intermediate member 105 of the second ink tank, and the ink Prevents leakage. The connecting member 102 is fixed to the supply intermediate member 105 by a fixing member 107. A seal material 108 is also attached between the tube fixing member 107 and the supply intermediate member 105 to prevent ink leakage.
The connecting member 102 is arranged substantially parallel to the moving direction of the carriage 110 and is deformed by changing the curvature as the carriage 110 moves. As a result, the deformation load of the connecting member 102 is reduced. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, at L1, the connecting member 102 is bent in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction of the second ink tank 104 from the carriage 110 moving direction. L <b> 2 is the length of the supply intermediate member 105. In order to supply the second ink tank 104, a distance of L1 + L2 is necessary. By reducing this distance, the size of the carriage 110 can be reduced. By making the carriage 110 small, there are merits such as downsizing of the main body, high image quality, and quietness.
However, the conventional second ink tank 104 of FIG. 2 includes a supply intermediate member 105 and a seal member 106 for sealing the supply intermediate member 105, and is not a simple structure. The object of the present invention is to reduce these parts.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the second ink tank of the present invention. The supply intermediate member 105 of FIG. 2 is a component that simply changes direction, and can be changed in other ways. Specifically, the groove 104b was formed in the case 104a of the second ink tank, and the part 30 could be deleted by welding the film 30 to the opening of the groove 104b. Since the film 30 welding itself can be automated, the cost is lower than when the supply intermediate member 105 and the sealing material 106 are set and inserted. The welding direction of the film 30 is not limited to that shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the upper part can be an opening and the film can be deposited on the upper part. In the example of FIG. 4, the film 30 also serves as non-pressure formation of the second ink tank 104. The film is convex on the side surface, and the pressing member 31 is pressed from the inside to the outside inside the protruding portion. Therefore, when the ink is sucked from the head portion 111, the ink in the second ink tank 104 is reduced, so that the film 30 tries to shrink inward. Work and balance. During this balance, the second ink tank 104 has a negative pressure. If no negative pressure is generated, the ink flows down from the head portion 111 and the ink cannot be ejected normally, so that the negative pressure formation plays an important role.

FIG. 5 shows a second ink tank in which a porous member having a capillary phenomenon such as a sponge is arranged in the upstream portion of the head. By providing the porous member 60 in the ink storage part, the ink tends to hold the ink due to a capillary phenomenon, so that the ink does not flow more than necessary to the head. Also in this case, in order to accommodate the porous member 60 in the second ink tank 104, an opening on the side surface is necessary, and the opening is closed by film welding. If the entire welding is performed instead of the dedicated welding only for the supply port, the welding cost of the supply port can be significantly reduced.
Moreover, in film welding, the melt | dissolution of the materials after welding of the homogeneous material advances, and it becomes the best result in intensity | strength. Furthermore, the most suitable material for film welding at a low temperature for a short time was polyethylene.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the ink jet recording apparatus. A recording paper cassette 7 is inserted into the base portion 8. Reference numeral 9 denotes a head support unit which is integrally attached to the scanner unit 10. An operation display unit 11, a contact glass 12, and a pressure plate 13 are also attached to the scanner unit 10. Reference numeral 14 denotes a recording paper discharge port, and 15 denotes a stack unit. Here, the base portion 8 and the head support portion 9 are rotatably attached.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the ink jet recording apparatus.
The recording operation will be described with reference to FIG. A document is set on the contact glass 12 of the scanner unit 10 and pressed by the pressure plate 13. The sensor unit 21 reads the image information of the original while moving in the A direction by the reading start signal. On the recording side, the recording paper 16 set in the cassette is separated and conveyed into a single sheet by the recording paper separating unit 17 and sent to the printing unit by the conveying rollers 4 and 5. Here, the recording paper conveyed between the platen 3 and the ink jet head 1 is supported by the guide rod 2 and ejects ink toward the recording paper while moving in the depth direction of FIG. Therefore, the recording paper is moved by a predetermined amount and the head scans. By repeating this, an image is formed on the recording paper. The printed recording paper is carried out of the apparatus from the paper discharge port 14 and stacked on the stack unit 15.

This is an ink jet recording apparatus adopting a conventional second ink tank system. It is a structural diagram of a conventional second ink tank. It is the schematic of the 2nd ink tank of this invention. It is the schematic of the 2nd ink tank which made upper part the opening and film-welded to the upper part. It is the 2nd ink tank which has arrange | positioned the porous member which has capillary phenomena, such as sponge, in the head upstream part. It is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording device. It is a schematic sectional drawing of an inkjet recording device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet head 2 Guide rod 3 Platen 4 Conveying roller 5 Conveying roller 7 Recording paper cassette 8 Base part 9 Head support part 10 Scanner part 11 Operation display part 12 Contact glass 13 Pressure plate 14 Recording paper discharge port 15 Stack part 16 Recording paper 17 Recording paper separation unit 21 Sensor unit 30 Film 31 Pressure member 60 Porous member 101 Ink cartridge 102 Connecting material 103 Supply pump 104 Second ink tank 104a Second ink tank case 104b Groove 105 Supply intermediate member 106 Sealing material 107 Fixing member 108 Sealing material 110 Carriage 111 Head portion 114 Second ink tank supply port 120 Film end surface

Claims (8)

In an ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink cartridge for ink replenishment and a second ink tank are connected by a connecting material, and an ink discharge head is provided downstream of the second ink tank.
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
The connecting member, the second ink tank and the connecting portion have a bent supply intermediate member,
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the supply intermediate member is formed by a part of a case of a second ink tank. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
The supply port of the second ink tank has a groove shape,
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein a member that closes the groove closes a side opening of the second ink tank. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the member that closes the side opening of the second ink tank is a film material. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3.
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the material of the case of the second ink tank and the surface layer of the member closing the side opening of the second tank are made of the same material. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the homogeneous material is polyethylene. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein a porous member is provided in an ink storage portion of a second ink tank. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by being a piezo head system. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by being a thermal head system.

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